Thucydiocy: Recent Episodes
Neville Morley
No, Thucydides did not say that! Historian Neville Morley explores the origins and significance of Thucydidean misquotations and misattributions.
"The peoples of the Mediterranean began to emerge from barbarism when they learned to cultivate the olive and the vine." Well, it could have come from Thucydides' account of the early development of Greece, but it doesn't; why do all the wine writers think it does, then?
Who knew that Thucydides had wise words to say about the duty to call out your friends when they're out of order, or to support the Christian condemnation of public festivals?
...on others, it eventually imposed on itself." A key quote for journalist Chris Hedges in analysing the present state of the USA - but if it's not actually Thucydides (who never wrote about the rule of the Thirty Tyrants in Athens), who was it?
"You should punish those who commit crimes in the same manner as those who accuse falsely" - which doesn't actually make much sense if you think about it, quite apart from the fact that there's no trace of this idea in Thucydides.
...until those who are not injured are as outraged as those who are. Thucydides? Ben Franklin? Socrates? No, it's someone much more interesting: the sixth-century BCE Athenian poet and statesman Solon. Never heard of him? This is why you should...
"Hope is an expensive commodity. It makes better sense to be prepared." A topical quote for a time of global pandemic - and at least half of it is genuine Thucydides. The other half is arguably more interesting...
"History is philosophy teaching by examples." The good news: it's a genuinely ancient line, rather than a modern quote that's been misattributed to Thucydides. The bad news: it's still a misattribution...
"Of all manifestations of power, restraint impresses men most": not Thucydides, whatever Colin Powell thought - but was it Menander, Quintilian, Proverbs, or the Swami Vivekananda..?
'Peace is only an armistice in an endless war.' It's just SO Thucydides, isn't it? Certainly the writers of Wonder Woman thought so, as did Graham Allison, of 'Thucydides Trap' fame. But it isn't...
'The society that separates its scholars from its warriors...' - not Thucydides, as is often claimed on Twitter, but who is it? Neville Morley investigates, with occasional interruptions from his cats.